Europe

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is planning to wait until next year to meet a European Commission requirement to issue a tier two bond, beyond the original deadline.

Ireland and Denmark have outlined their funding needs for next year, with both sovereigns looking to raise similar amounts to 2018.

Chemical and consumer goods firm Henkel has signed a €1.5bn sustainability-linked revolving credit facility, with leads claiming the deal is the first of its kind in Germany.

Experian, the Irish-incorporated, FTSE 100-listed credit checking agency, has signed a $1.95bn revolving credit facility, which it self-arranged.

Financial institutions have sold more secured bonds in place of unsecured debt in 2018, according to the European Banking Authority. But the watchdog expects that the sector will confront an 'important challenge' next year, when some banks will face pressure to sell riskier securities to meet new loss-absorbing debt requirements.

A revolution is occurring in the Schuldschein market. This sedate and sober instrument has shaken its fusty reputation and transformed into a bustling hotbed of technological progress. Seven digital platforms sprang up in 2018, each declaring a grand ambition to drive efficiency. But with platforms jockeying for position, under the eye of the German regulator, some question the rate of change and the authenticity of some agents of it.

Equity capital markets bankers are expecting to be busy in 2019 despite the volatility that has marred the last few months of 2018. Nevertheless, they are predicting IPO sellers to be far more cautious when the market re-opens in January.

US lawmakers have penned their first major reform of the policies drawn up to make banks safer after the financial crisis, and signs suggest that further deregulation could be on the cards during president Donald Trump’s remaining time in office. Tyler Davies asks if this is the beginning of the end for the international push towards tougher banking rules?

It has only been four years, but the European bond markets have become attached to the kindly hand of Mother ECB. Quantitative easing has been like an electric motor on the market’s bicycle — in 2019, it will have to go back to doing all the pedalling itself. Can the market do it without falling off, when the road ahead is so bumpy?

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress French agencies have made in their funding programmes as the year comes to a close. A few agencies have also set their funding targets for 2019.

The Restaurant Group (TRG), owner of the UK chains Garfunkel's, Joe's Kitchen and Frankie & Benny's, has reported a 92% take-up on its £315m rights issue to acquire the restaurant chain Wagamama from private equity firms Duke Street and Hutton Collins Partners.

In this round up, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission put an ETF link on hold, venture capital funds will get more tax cuts, and Hong Kong signed up to the fourth closer economic partnership agreement with the Mainland.